The construction of homes in a marine environment has become an increasingly interesting issue in recent years. By constructing floating homes, unused quays and beach lines can be utilised without the need for extensive exploitation of sensitive environments and with flexibility as to amended detail plans. In a flexible way such homes can also provide quick solutions to housing shortage. A prerequisite for a functional living on a floating structure is, however, that the same high standards as to comfort, living environment and an environmental considerations have to be met on such a home as on a conventional home on solid ground.
The heating of a floating home may be accomplished for example by an oil boiler, electric boiler, by connection to distant heating or by means of a heat pump utilising the heat of ambient water for heating. In conventional use of a sea water heat pump, collector hoses having a circulating heat transporting medium are placed on a lake bottom or a sea bottom. For a floating home that uses a heat pump for heating, it is, however, not appropriate to provide collector hoses on the bottom in connection to the home, as the hoses will there be in danger of being subjected to external damage from, for example, anchoring, dredging, navigation etc. Moreover, the flexibility as to the mobility of the floating home would be deteriorated by the dependence of a stationary arrangement outside of the floating structure.
It is previously known to heat a floating home by arranging collector hoses on a heat pump outside the hull of the floating structure in contact with ambient water, thereby to at least partially solve the above mentioned problem. The hoses are, however, still exposed to external damage and may be subjected to damage if, for example grounding and collisions between floating structures should occur. If there is a need for lifting the floating structure, the location of the hoses will make it more difficult to attach lifting straps around the hull, as well as the possibility of placing the structure in a dry dock without damaging the hoses.
Accordingly there is a need to improve the prior art relating to the heating of floating structures by means of a heat pump.